True Love
by Barracuda124
Summary: Sorry, but I had to go somewhere but the same thing over and over again... I hope I didn't just lose a bunch of readers for my choice, but I hope you like the story! Please review!
1. Chapter 1

I awoke to a small but warm body jumping on top of me. Right away I knew who it was.

"Alex, what are you doing? What time is it?" I asked her groggily.

"Time to get up sleepy head! The early bird catches the worm… or in this case the early trainer gets the best weapons…" she replied energetically.

"Five more minutes…"

"No."

With a sigh, I slowly dragged my long body out of bed. I stretched, yawned, then surprised her by suddenly scooping her up, laying her across my bare shoulders, and running out the cabin door into the early morning sunlight.

"Adam, c'mon! Put a shirt on!" she screamed playfully.

I set her down, and jogged back into the cabin, quickly grabbing a shirt off of the dresser. Before joining her back outside, I grabbed a wilted flower out of the window box.

Back outside, I opened my hand in front of her, the flower lying in my palm. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, channeling energy down my arm and into my hand. Opening my eyes, I looked down and saw the flower's colors return and its petals flourish, alive once again. Oh yeah, did I mention my mom is Demeter, the Greek god of plant life?

She took the bud out of my hand, placing it behind her ear. She had seen the trick many times before, so she wasn't surprised, but the look on her face never changed. She looked up at me, gazing into my hazel eyes with her beautiful green ones, causing me to melt on the inside. Getting on the balls of her feet, as was necessary for her short stature and my six-foot height, she pushed her lips against my cheek, and I felt my entire face warm up, and I was pretty sure I was blushing because she laughed, then taking my hand, dragged my along behind her to the training arena. She grabbed a sword and a dagger, her usual weapons, and I took my usual bow and quiver full of arrows. Walking out into the middle of the circle, we stared down our targets: for me, several round bull's eyes placed around the outer wall; for her, automated dummies designed and created by the Hephaestus cabin.

She counted down from five, and then she ran across the arena to the first of the automatons. I grabbed an arrow from the quiver on my back and took aim. I shot, hitting the small target in the center. Alex had already taken down two dummies. Time to make things a little harder for her…

I knelt to the ground, and placed my hand against the hard-packed earth. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, then opened my eyes again. A green glow was emanating from the bottom of my hand where it touched the ground. A thin, vein-like network of vines started snaking towards the dummy, running quickly along the ground. Once they got to the machine's feet, they started working their way up its body, and then bore its way into the back of its neck. The empty eye sockets glowed the same color green as from my hand, and I felt total control of each and every cog in the workings of the device. I moved left, and the dummy shuffled left. I raised my arm, and the dummy did so. I smirked at Alex as she realized what was happening. Running up to the dummy, she swung at it with her sword, and I moved to parry the blow, the dummy following my every move. We continued this way for ten minutes, until the power consumed by this little trick caused me to fall down in exhaustion. She rushed over to me, and leaned over me. I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her lips onto mine. She fought for a moment, then surrendered and laid down on top of me.

We could have stayed there forever, her laying on top of me, grunts of enthusiasm coming from both of us, if it hadn't been for the entire Ares cabin showing up for their training session.

Hopping up, looks of pure embarrassment on our faces, we ran out of the arena, away from giggles and outright laughter. We didn't stop until we were deep in the forest, and I held her against me and willed a tree to grow beneath us. Up popped a seedling between my feet, quickly growing to the size of a three-year-old tree. I placed myself on a branch, and then willed the tree to grow even higher. We shot up into the air, Alex on my lap, screaming her butt off. I wrapped my free arm around her, gripping the tree trunk with the other, as we rose above all the other trees, and we saw the camp far below us. We slowed to a stop, and just sat there for a while, silent. Then I leaned down, and returned her peck on the cheek. She blushed the color of a rose.

_***Author's Note: My girlfriend and I decided to make a story that we both contribute chapters to. I will write a chapter, she will write the next one, and so on. Chapter Two will come from her, and her name is DarkAngel382. She has several other stories, so if you liked this one, check her out as well! Please review!***_


	2. Chapter 3

It was evening at Camp Halfblood. Everyone was making their way back to their assigned cabins, chatting happily with their half-siblings. A few couples, however, stayed on the beach, including Alex and myself.

There we were—I was leaning against one of the poles of the volleyball net, and she was lying across my lap. I stroked her head absentmindedly, and she played with her necklace. As the sun set, we both tilted our heads towards the horizon, and watched the massive orange globe dip beneath the horizon. We both knew that once it got dark, we'd have to be in our own cabins or we'd be in big trouble; we both got up, then, holding hands, we made our way to the Athena cabin.

Once there, we stopped outside the doorway, listening to Annabeth bossing around all the other children of the goddess of wisdom. We shared a look, and then smirked. Then, leaning down, I placed my lips softly against her cheek.

"Good night, Alex," I said in the most mushy tone I could get. She rolled her eyes.

"G 'night, Adam," she said, and then trotted up the steps and through the door.

I walked back to the Demeter cabin as slowly as I could, cherishing the last few moments of us being together until the next day. My hand was still warm where just a few moments ago it had been holding Alex's. I sighed as I walked up the steps, and I flopped into bed.

It is now three hours later. I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, and I knew why. Slipping carefully out of bed, so as not to wake my cabin mates, I thrust on a pair of jeans and tip toed out the door. On the steps, I hesitated. Looking up to the sky, I saw the moon, a large, white orb suspended in space, surrounded by stars. I looked to the window box; nothing had been planted there yet. I took a deep breath, and then waved my hand over the moist soil. A moment later, a sprout popped up out of the dirt, and the next moment it held a single lily. I plucked the flower from the stem and held it gently in my hand. I knew exactly where I was going.

Jumping off the steps, I landed lightly on the balls of my bare feet, and then took off running. I didn't even have to look where I was going, because I had been on so many midnight excursions like this one that I knew the route like the back of my hand. In a matter of seconds, I was outside the window. I reached up and placed the lily on the sill, then hoisted myself up off the ground and through the opening. I was in. Looking across the room, I spotted the bed, and made my way slowly and silently towards it. The sleeper tossed and turned restlessly. Placing the flower on the pillow next to her head, I crawled over her, and lying behind her, I put my arm across her body and grabbed her hand in mine. Alex stopped thrashing and eased back into sleep, and soon so did I; we didn't wake up until the first rays of sunlight poured through the open windows, and when she turned her head to look at me, we both beamed at each other, then I leaned in, and placed my lips against hers. That moment could have lasted a lifetime.

_ ***Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to write, but school has started up again and I have plenty to do. I will try my best, along with my partner, to write as often as possible, but no promises. Please review! ***_


	3. Chapter 5

I walked up to the hammock, glancing through the open windows into the Athena cabin. Annabeth was shouting at all her "cadets" to wake up, but she didn't seem very… hm… how to put it… strict, because of her time with Percy last night. Looking back to the hammock, I found something I had seen before: Alex, curled up in a ball against the morning chill, a book lying open next to her. Yet again, she had stayed up all night reading…

Annabeth spotted me as I walked up to the window. She walked over when I gestured to her.

"You seen this yet?" I asked her, nodding towards the shivering figure.

"Yep… figured I'd let her sleep in… but she really does need to wake up, considering it's almost ten…" Annabeth replied.

"Right… I'll handle that… see you at breakfast!" I whispered to her as I walked back to the makeshift bed. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she inhaled a deep breath of moist morning air. She was awake. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at me.

"Hey, babe!" I joked, giving her a mischievous grin.

She groaned. "What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"It's almost ten! You need to wake up and head to the arena for your training session! Omigosh, look, they're leaving without you!" I said sarcastically.

"Ugh, I don't want to get up..." She quickly changed her mind as I scooped her up and jogged, with her laying across my shoulder, into her cabin. I set her on her bed and rummaged through her clothes. I found her cute, purple shirt with a picture of a "flesh-eating" cupcake on it, and some denim short shorts to match. I tossed them to her and said, "There you go, muffin cup!"

I walked out of the door so she could get dressed, and sat on the stairs. She joined me, and somehow had gotten her hair into a perfect braid in the few moments I had left her alone… I gestured to it, giving her a quizzical look.

"What? Can't a girl do something with her hair?" she asked defensively.

I held my hands up in surrender. "Nothing… but how did you-… never mind…"

"That's what I thought," she said, giving her gorgeous, dark brown hair a flip, sending chills down my spine; she knew I couldn't stand it when she did that. She smirked at me sitting there mesmerized, then grabbed my hand and pulled me off my butt. Together, hand in hand, we jogged over to the dining area and grabbed some fruit off of the table, careful to toss a bit of it into the offering fire. Then we walked down to the beach and watched Charles Beckendorf and Selena Beauregard whoop some poor Ares kids' butts at a volleyball match. We laughed as they cheered together and Beckendorf kissed Selena on the cheek. I did the same to Alex, and she just sat there, cheeks flushing with color. We both just stared into each other's eyes, me melting under her solid, loving brown-eyed gaze, her under my gold-flecked hazel stare. Beckendorf and Selena bounded up to us, cutting short the "staring contest", and we all trotted to the strawberry fields to help the satyrs and some kids from my cabin pick the now-ripe, bright red berries. I smiled to myself as I watched Alex glance around then sneak a few from the bucket and into her mouth, knowing eventually everyone here would do the same. I came across a few strawberries that were still in their green, unripe state. I waved my hand over them, and they instantly grew and turned a shade of bright crimson—I still hadn't perfected the technique of ripening fruit yet… I left the now ruined berries, knowing some hungry animal would eat them at some point, and ran to catch up with the others, who were walking to deliver the fruit to the kitchen to put in tonight's dessert. I walked up behind Alex, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pressed my lips against her neck. She leaned her head into mine, and Selena let out a very annoying '_Awwwwww_', while Beckendorf tried to copy my move on his girlfriend. She ended up slapping him across the face, and then laughed. A moment later we all joined in, from Beckendorf's deep, hearty chuckle, to Alex's silly giggle. Then, grabbing her hand again and entwining my fingers with hers, I brought it up to my lips and then put it back at our sides. After dropping off the buckets in the Big House's kitchen, we ran back to the beach to take on the undefeated champs at a game of volleyball, laughing all the while.


	4. Chapter 7

The next morning was training morning. Blech. Training. My least favorite activity, although being with Alex made it so much fun… who else would allow you to use your godly powers against them in battle than your beloved girlfriend? That's right—no one.

Anyways, our morning started the same way: me sneaking into the Athena cabin and getting her up at the crack of dawn, us running across the grounds to the arena before anyone was even up and ready. We arrived, however, and found a very strange sight—everyone in Camp Half-Blood gathered in the center, a giant banner hung across the walls reading _'Happy Birthday, Adam!'_

Crap! I forgot it was my birthday today! How could I forget something like that? My own birthday! Stupid stupid stupid!

As I cursed myself in my head, Alex looked to me, grinning like a five-year-old who had just gotten what they wanted for Christmas. I took a break from inwardly bullying myself and gave her a questioning expression, and then it all became clear: Alex had planned a surprise party.

"You did not," I said in disbelief.

"Did too!" she replied with enthusiasm. She grabbed the back of my head and pulled it downward, almost breaking my neck, and planted a kiss on my lips. A few of the Ares' kids jeered, and a unified '_Awwww_' came from the Aphrodite cabin. Then the Apollo kids sprang up a variation on Happy Birthday, and Chiron trotted up to me (Hehehe, trotted…).

"Congratulations, Adam! You are now old enough to accept quests from the Oracle!" he told me excitedly.

"Great," I said, not looking forward to that.

"Adam, you should be excited! Quests are a great test of knowledge and skills! And besides," he added, "you are allowed to take people with you on your quests since you are just now of age."

"And your awesome with your powers, Adam, and not to mention your bow skills!" added Selena, who had just bounded up to us, Beckendorf following close behind.

"Thanks, guys," I told them sheepishly. I never really took praise very well.

"Besides, there hasn't been a quest given since Percy and his friends stopped the Titans! It's like the Oracle went to dormancy!"

"Speaking of which, where is Rachel? She was here a minute ago, wasn't she?"

"That's a good question, Selena. Let's go check outside." Chiron walked out the arena doors with the four teens following him.

"Hey, there she is!" shouted Beckendorf. He ran up to a figure not far from the entrance. He was about to put his hand on her shoulder when a blast of force drove him to the ground. He skidded along the grass until he was flat on his back at the feet of the centaur. Green smoke poured from Rachel's mouth and hands, and when she turned to face them, her eyes were glowing bright green.

"Forth comes a force never before seen…" she started to say in a raspy voice that meant the Oracle was possessing her body to relay a message. "At dawn the party shall leave to investigate a number of which they yet know nothing… One of new age has been selected by godly parents, and four in the crew is all that will be allowed… Seek first the cup that which never empties, and the rest shall become clear…" The girl slumped to the ground, the light/smoke show stopping abruptly. The group ran to her, everyone shocked at the sudden prophecy.

"Why now?"

"What's this 'force never before seen' she talked about?"

"Well, we know one thing," I shuddered. "I am the 'one of new age'."

"Adam, it looks like you have been given your first quest… I don't know why so soon, but Demeter must have reasons to risk her own child's life on a mission that obviously will be very dangerous," said Chiron.

"I'll go with you, Adam," said Alex bravely.

"Me too," said Beckendorf shortly afterwards.

We all looked to Selena, and she said, "Awh, but I'll miss my hair appointment on Thursday!"

We just looked at her, and then broke out in a surprising fit of laughter. The rest of the camp came out to find what was going one, and just saw us standing there, laughing hysterically, and not knowing what had just transpired.

Great, I turn fourteen, and automatically I'm chosen for some quest. I don't know what this force is, or why my Greek family chose me, but I must be pretty darn good at what I do, or I wouldn't have been chosen. I grinned to myself.


End file.
